Wasn't More Than Five
by LadybugGirl7068
Summary: There were shouts, lots of them. But Raphie said they'd all be fine. And Raphie doesn't lie. AU-ish but not really, Mikey and Donnie are younger by more years is all. Meant to be sad. Mentions of character(s) death.


**I'm not sure why. Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: Nope don't own nutin**

"Mikey, try to get some sleep tonight ok? I can't keep coming in here to check on you every time you close your eyes."

"Ok, Donnie. Last time, I promise."

"Ok. Goodnight Mikey. Now go to sleep."

He closed the door.

"Goodnight Don," Mikey whispered.

Donnie sighed. He knew he should be there to help his brother. But he wouldn't barely remember what happened that night, and it was time for them to move on. It'd been ten years for crying out loud.

It wasn't that he didn't miss his brothers, no, he wouldn't even consider the thought. It was just... they didn't die so they could be mourned for the rest of their living brothers' lives. They had to move on. For them.

He walked in his lab to add some more touch-ups on the perimeter security system. After all, that's what had started this mess.

Don remembered how old he was when it happened. He hadn't been much more than six, and Mikey had been four. They were the youngest of the four brothers by many years, with the oldest being at fifteen and sixteen.

But before that, they hadn't all been mutated together. Their older brothers had been, but when a scientist saw them for his own eyes, he tried to replicate it. It worked, but before they could be experimented on, they were rescued by a giant rat and two huge turtles.

They agreed to raise them as their brothers, love them, feed them, and protect them.

And they had. Right to the bitter end. Splinter survived up until Donnie turned fifteen before he died of a heart attack.

Now they were alone. Don and Mike. But they were alone together.

And that's all that mattered, for now.

Mikey closed his eyes and saw red. His mind kept flashing back to the time when there were five in their family.

Then four.

Then three.

And now two.

He whimpered and pressed himself closer to the blankets surrounding him. He started to drift off to sleep before he heard it again. Singing. For the fourth time that night.

His eyes immediately snapped open and it stopped. Mikey recognised it as a japanese song, and he'd heard it before. But ten years is a long time to remember something.

So he closed his eyes and remembered.

Mikey whined. He didn't want to go in the closet. But Raphie said it was okay. Just a game of hide and seek, except different. No matter what he heard, Mikey wasn't to come out of the closet.

Donnie told him Leo said the same thing in the other room, but the tears on his face said otherwise.

Mikey waved it off. Donnie cried all the time, it was probably just because he didn't want to hide with the youngest brother.

Raphie started to walk away as Leo closed the closet door.

Then he stopped and ran back. "Hold on, Leo. We gotta say goodbye, remember? Like we do every time we play." But the tears in Raphie's eyes said something was different.

He leaned down and picked up Mikey, holding him close. "I'm sorry little brother. I'm sorry." he picked up Donnie and held him close too. "Now. You two gotta be brave, ok? Can't make a peep. Act like nothin's happenin', and just stay quiet. For Leo and Raphie. Ok? You gonna be brave now?"

Mikey looked up with a smile. Nothing was wrong. Raphie said so. "Yep. Brave like Raphie 'nd Leo. Right Don?"

Donnie nodded and hugged Raph tighter. Then Raph hummed a song. It was short and sweet, and he mumbled some of the words, but Mikey knew it as an old lullaby they would sing together. He stopped on the last verse just as Leo began talking.

Leo looked away, unable to keep the tears from falling. He sniffled and swallowed. "Raph, we need to go. They're almost in, I can hear them at the door."

Raph hugged them tighter. "I know. I know. Say goodbye, Leo."

Leo looked over and offered a weak smile as he crouched down to hug them. "I love you. Don't forget that. Ever." With a final squeeze, he stood up and went to the closet door, ready to close them again.

Raph looked back one more time before he gave them a genuine smile. Mikey smiled back and Donnie cried harder.

The closet door closed.

Mikey couldn't see anything, but her could hear it. He heard Raph break down. Heard Leo comfort him. Heard the defenses break as soldiers poured into the lair. Heard his brothers run towards the dojo, past Splinter's room where he was currently sick.

Heard shouts and the sound of metal on flesh. Heard Leo cry out as more soldiers continued to run in. And heard Raph fall. The triumphant cheers of their enemies.

And only then did Mikey let his smile fall. Raphie was hurt. Leo was hurt. Donnie was holding it in.

The soldiers searched the lair for any other living thing, but didn't find Master Splinter or open the closet. So, after the longest two hours Mikey would ever know, they left. Splinter barely had enough energy to come find them. And he refused to let them in the dojo. After packing up, they found a new home.

But Raphie and Leo never showed up.

Mikey woke up, still in bed. He sat up, and realised he was humming the song. His brain mixed the lyrics to something he remembered from a long time ago, a year after his brothers had died.

"The last time I saw Raphie, I wasn't more than five. He was telling me the story of how he and Leo died."

Mikey kept humming, and just sat, staring at his wall.


End file.
